Switzerland's tempting tax regimes attract UK firms

New regulations for EU hedge funds.

In return for dropping its objections, France insists that the new regime should not be introduced until 2013 at the earliest; that the new European Securities and Markets Authority be the body which issues passports to, and supervises, non-EU funds; and that non-EU countries hosting funds meet minimum regulatory standards, and grant EU funds the same rights that their funds will enjoy in European markets.

It is good for EU investors to be able to invest in foreign-based funds. No one can disagree with rules ensuring that these funds are held to the same standards as EU ones. The point about timing is also reasonable. ESMA will only come into existence on January 1, 2011. It therefore makes sense to give it time to establish itself before it takes on the task of managing passports.

Whether ESMA should be the sole issuer of passports to non-EU firms is more contentious. It is hard to see why such exclusivity is necessary. Provided that each national regulator will be applying the minimum standards set by the European regulator, there seems to be no compelling reason why funds should not be able to seek permission at the national level. Restricting this power to ESMA alone sparks concerns about protectionism. Keeping the state-level door open would also ensure that if ESMA proves inefficient, hedge funds can go directly to national bodies.

The industry has raised another concern. Applying the new rules to already existing closed funds could be disruptive. While some new rules, such as reporting and registration requirements, should not cause problems, it does not seem unreasonable to grant temporary exemptions from regulations which would force the dissolution of funds without benefit to investors.

More than a year of bruising negotiations has radically altered the EU’s attempt to regulate alternative investors. The changes have removed some of the more objectionable passages in the original proposal. The key now is to ensure that the elements which foster a fully functioning single market make the final draft

EU talks to break hedge-fund impasse fail !

(Reuters) - Talks to break deadlock between Britain and France over the shape of new EU hedge-fund controls ended in disarray on Wednesday, putting their finance ministers on course for a clash when they meet next week.

Central to the row is whether or not to grant a licence to foreign funds that want to work across the European Union's 27 countries. French economy chief Christine Lagarde had opposed this on the grounds that controls on foreign firms would be lax -- her opposite number in Britain, George Osborne, is in favour.

"It's more bad news today," said one EU diplomat with knowledge of the talks, which are latest in a series of failed attempts to resolve the row. "We now hope there will be an agreement next week among finance ministers."

Continued discord could trigger a laborious mediation with the European Parliament, delaying the introduction of the symbolically important law, as well as antagonise Washington, which believes planned French curbs are protectionist.

Lagarde and Osborne are expected to be in contact in the coming days in a last-ditch attempt to reach agreement on the shape of controls for hedge funds and private equity before they meet at a gathering of finance ministers early next week.

The hedge funds blueprint has also provoked a row between Paris and Washington, which is worried that French moves could block U.S. funds from doing business in Europe.

On the eve of France taking over the presidency of the influential Group of 20 countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has written to Lagarde warning her against curbing foreign hedge funds.

Despite being one of the EU's more modest financial reforms, Brussels' attempts to change the rules for hedge funds, chiefly by putting them under the watch of a new pan-European supervisor, has taken on what one expert called a totemic significance.

It has put French President Nicolas Sarkozy at loggerheads with Britain, which has defended hedge funds, an industry London sees as important for its status as Europe's financial capital but which a German politician dismissed as "swarms of locusts".

Diplomats, increasingly anxious on Wednesday to keep talks going, had put a number of proposals on the table to coax agreement including delaying or granting opt-out clauses on the most controversial part of the law -- an EU-wide licence for foreign funds to work in Europe.

Michel Barnier, the EU official in charge of broking a deal on the law, had earlier signalled that there could be a delay or "transitional period" to this licensing scheme.

Hedge funds currently must apply to national authorities in each country to sell investment products there -- lawmakers want to replace this scheme with a single permit to operate in all EU states.

Other proposals presented by diplomats at the meeting in Brussels also proved divisive.

Under one plan, a country could block any fund holding a European licence from operating in its territory by not signing up to the agreement granting them the permit.

"Britain believes this would be an opt out," said one diplomat. "It allows the member states to pick and choose."

With the European Parliament planning to vote through its version of the hedge-fund law in November, further delays could trigger a drawn-out procedure to reconcile the positions of European countries and elected lawmakers in Brussels.

"If there is no agreement now, it is going to last for another two years," said one diplomat.

GLG shareholders approve Man Group merger

Shareholders of GLG Partners have approved the merger agreement with Man Group at a special meeting of stockholders in New York. The vote was the last hurdle in Man's acquisition of GLG.

Man Group announced its plans to acquire GLG in a $1.6 billion deal on May 17.

The combined company will rank as the world's largest hedge fund manager creating a $63 billion alternative asset management giant with strengths in discretionary and quantitative strategies in both single and multi-manager hedge funds.

The deal is now expected to close on October 14.

Man Group CEO Peter Clarke said the strategic rationale of the merger was "based on the creation of a performance-focused, multi-style investment platform which is capable of delivering superior, uncorrelated returns from a wide range of investment strategies across market cycles."

Since the merger was announced, Man Group has been the subject of media speculation with rumours that it is an acquisition target for BNY Mellon.